Filed: Tuesday, 16th October 2012By: Staff Writer

West Ham's fears of losing midfield powerhouse Momo Diame to the African Cup of Nations early next years have been dismissed after his country were banned from the tournament following a riot.

Senegal, whom Diame represents have been thrown out of the tournament - which takes place in South Africa between 19th January and 10th February next year - following a riot in Dakar at the weekend.

The Senegalese were hosting the Ivory Coast in a final round qualifying tie but the match was abandoned with 16 minutes of normal time left to play after a riot forced the referee to abandon it.

The trouble began when the Ivory Coast's Didier Drogba scored a penalty to extend their lead in the game to 2-0 - a scoreline that virtually guaranteed the West African nation's qualification as it put them 6-2 ahead on aggregate.

Riot police were called into action as a hail of missiles rained down upon the pitch. The deluge forced the players to withdraw and the referee to ultimately abandon the match after some 40 minutes as police failed to restore order in the stadium.

The Confederation of African Football later confirmed that the result would stand - whilst later adding that Senegal would have been eliminated from the competition anyway as a result of the riots.

"The CAF Disciplinary met in Cairo to look into the incidents that led to the abandonment of the Senegal vs. Ivory Coast match," a statement of the CAF website read.

"Missiles, stones, bottles and firecrackers were thrown onto the pitch. As a result CAF decided to officially confirm the result of the match as 2-0 in favor of Ivory Coast in accordance with the provisions of article 16 para 20 of the regulations of the competition and to consider Senegal eliminated from the competition without prejudice to any other sanctions that may be imposed by CAF Disciplinary Board."

Although midfielder Diame will now be staying in England, West Ham will be without striker Modibo Maiga who is expected to be named in the Malian squad. Mali qualified for the finals by beating Botswana 7-1 on aggregate.

The goals from the second leg in Lobatse, which Mali won 4-1 including one from Maiga, may be seen here.